First Ever OHV Roundup Draws Trail Riders To Local Business

Attendees enjoy a barbecue dinner while listening to the music of the band Muddy Boots at the Moapa Valley OHV Roundup on Saturday night.

Take a beautiful fall evening in the desert, add great music, a campfire, delicious food, and, of course, Off Highway Vehicles (OHV), and you get the culminating event in this year’s Moapa Valley OHV Roundup.

This first ever local event began on Friday night with registration and festivities at the Logandale Fairgrounds. It continued on into Saturday with self-guided rides through the Logandale Trails area, and a scavenger hunt that drew participants into various local businesses. The day concluded with great entertainment and a delicious dinner of brisket, potatoes, salad, and apple pie held at the Awesome Adventures facility south of Overton.

The OHV roundup was the brainchild of members of the Moapa Valley Revitalization Project (MVRP). Earlier this year, MVRP received a grant from the Nevada Commission on Tourism to advertise and promote Moapa Valley. Capitalizing on a recent designation as a Clark County’s first OHV-friendly community, the group organized an event with the goal of drawing OHV riders throughout the region to enjoy Logandale trails and learn about what Moapa Valley has to offer.

OHV Roundup coordinator Stoney Ward rides in the Veteran’s Day Parade with other members of the Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce to kick off the first OHV Roundup event.

This year’s event was the first of what is intended to be a semiannual event. MVRP hopes to host the next one in March. They looked at this first roundup as a learning experience.
“This was our first event and some parts of it were kind of hectic,” said MVRP president Mary Kay Washburn. “But we’ve been really pleased by the response we got. We didn’t have a lot of people pre-register so we were concerned about attendance. But then a lot people just came and supported us and we’ve had a great time. We’ve learned some things to improve upon for the next event, but overall are really pleased with how things went.”

Overton resident Laura Hoe came and brought her family. “We came because we thought this sounded like a lot of fun,” she said. “You know, we’re supporting the valley and that’s always a good thing.”
In addition to the great food, music was provided by the Muddy Boots Band out of Cedar City, Utah. This band prides itself on playing something for everyone, from the Hokey Pokey to Sweet Home Alabama. It turns out that the Hokey Pokey was one of most popular songs of the night, inspiring people of all ages to dance. The band interacted with the crowd and added to the success of the evening.

Partners in Conservation (PIC) also helped with the event. “We love to help with MVRP and are happy to support the OHV roundup,” said PIC Administrator Elise McAllister. “You know that anything that has to do with dirt is good for us, too!”
McAllister noted that the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce CEO Jill Lagan had driven all the way out to attend and support the event.
“It was a wonderful day,” said event organizer Stoney Ward. “There were a lot of people on the trails today having a great time, and then a great turnout again at the party.”

Ward stated that plans are already in the works for the upcoming event in March.
“Part of our focus in organizing this is on education,” Ward added. “We are working with the Clark County Commissioners to get signs so that the area is clearly marked with where it is and isn’t ok to ride.”